Irene Muchemi-Ndiritu was born and raised in Nairobi and moved to the United States to attend college in 1998. She has an MA in journalism from the Graduate School of Journalism, Columbia University and has worked as a journalist in New York City, Washington D.C., and Boston. She later received an MFA in creative writing from the University of Cape Town, graduating with distinction.
Her fictional work has been published in Yale Review and Adda, and she has been shortlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize.
She currently lives in Cape Town, South Africa. Lucky Girl is her debut novel.